Green Day’s

American Idiot

an analysis by sean Perry

Background on the band

• Self-proclaimed as “God’s Favorite Band”
• Band members: Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, Mike Dirnt
• Have always been heavily liberal, and continue to be:
• Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong in 2020: "I think right now in rock music if you're not dangerous you're not pulling your weight,"
• Green Day arose from the Northern California underground punk scene. In 1989, the band independently released its first EP, 1000 Hours.
• Throughout the early '90s, Green Day continued to attract a cult following, which only gained strength as they released more albums.

This album in history: what was transpiring at the time?

(This Album was released on 9/11 in 2004)

Political Events that Shaped the 2000s

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One of the goals of this album was to convince the youth to vote and to get Bush out of the White House… and, well… that didn’t happen.

What may have socially influenced this music? why?

• Politics of the early 2000s
• Bush’s presidency
• One of the aims of the albums was get-out-the-vote; encouraging the youngest voters to get to the polls on election day and vote Bush out
• Iraq war
• The band was angry at American involvement in the war, as were many Americans
• Critique of american culture
• Problems of America's "television culture" centered around cable news
• Contends that mass media has orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among the public, and that cable news had crossed the line from journalism to reality television.
• The world's view of America as careless warmongers
• issues of addiction, mental health, and income inequality

What voices are included?

what voices are included?

• On the title track
• Band members
• On the rest of the album
• drug-addicted Lower-middle-class suburban American teen
• Rebellious teenage freedom-fighter
• Young liberal

Background on the album: the title track

• Tells the story of George W. Bush’s presidency & its effect on the nation’s youth
• Although Green Day denies that President George W. Bush was the sole target of the album’s title track, his administration, and more specifically the U.S.’ involvement in the Iraq War, certainly inspired many of the lyrics and messages behind the album
• Used by the band to describe what they’re seeing America become (politically)
• The music video mocks 24-hour news channels and America’s TV culture
• This song is the only one on the album that includes the band members’ “voices” rather than voices of characters.

Background on the album: the other tracks

• Told from the P.o.V. of 3 main characters:
• Jesus of Suburbia
• a drug-addicted kid from a broken home; lower-middle-class suburban American teen
• St. Jimmy
• a "swaggering punk rock freedom fighter par excellence" who is driven by is driven by "rebellion and self-destruction,"; later revealed to be a facet of Jesus of Suburbia’s personality.
• Whatsername
• A young liberal "Mother Revolution” figure focused on following beliefs and ethics.
• Set as an enemy of St. Jimmy; in the end, Jesus of Suburbia loses his connection with Whatsername, to the point in which he can't even remember her name
• The relationship between these characters is a play on how America has, as a whole, largely forgotten what ethics are, or how to enforce them.

Larger messages of the album

• The album expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by tumultuous events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War.
• "draws a casual connection between contemporary American social dysfunction and the Bush ascendancy.”
• Critique of "television culture" (obsession with 24/7 cable news)
• Profiling life & struggles of the lower-middle class

Larger social knowledges depicted

• War in Iraq (American Idiot)
• Bush’s presidency (American Idiot)
• AD(H)D crisis (Jesus of Suburbia, raised on “soda pop and ritalin”)
• Substance abuse (Give me Novacaine)
• TV Culture (American Idiot)
• Religion (“can I get another ‘Amen’” in Holiday)
• Right to protest (Holiday)
• Immigration (not intentional, but easily relatable in today’s America)
• Get-out-the-vote
• Wage Gap / Income Inequality

The Western Canon & its implications

Choice & Self-Determination: Central Lessons from American Indian Education, posed the question, “What is the great contribution of Western knowledge?”

• Disempowerment
• Dehumanization
• Destruction
• Unsustainable

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This is mirrored in the life of Jesus of Suburbia, as well as the life of Billy joe Armstrong.

• both raised in a capitalist western society
• as a result of western political and social issues developed drug addiction
• Unsustainable & leads to self-disempowerment, self-dehumanization, and self-destruction

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Implications of Class: Is Everyone Really Equal?

• Class topics:
• Class: refers to relative social rank in terms of income, wealth, status, and/or power.
• Classism: the systematic oppression of poor and working people by those who control necessary resources; ensures class inequality.
• Socialization: the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society (specifically, the environment a person grows up in)
• Jesus of Suburbia:
• Described as a mentally unstable teen raised in a dangerous, low-income home.
• Low-income class situation likely caused his parents to be absentee, resulting in him being alone at home in an unsafe space and picking up habits of alcohol and drug abuse.
• Classism ensures his continual oppression, but he’s been Socialized into believing that there’s “nothing wrong” with him “this is how [he’s] supposed to be”.

What are some implications of this album on society?

• “Fake News”: Green Day fought against the then-nonexistent but the now-prevalent concept of “fake news”, even before the term had been coined.
• The band members were disgusted by the politicization of the news during this time, giving rise to highly radical lyrics that have remained extremely relevant in today’s current social and political climates.
• Mental health: In the early 2000s, it was not fashionable (or even acceptable) to speak openly about such serious mental health issues. Green Day fearlessly brought this up in this album, placing them ahead of their time and influencing later societal movements centered around mental health & well-being.

What are some implications of this album on education?

• Critical Thinking: Schools need to help students become politically aware & teach them how to pick out the “important stuff” from the media.
• Discrimination: should not be allowed on the basis of mental health or socio-economic background
• Erasing the stigma around mental health & how it impacts the youth of the nation

How does the music itself match the messages?

• General Vibes:
• Anger
• Angst
• betrayal
• urgency
• Instrumentation:
• Drums soloed underneath important lyrics
• Driving kick in the drums
• Electric guitar & electric bass
• Voice (rough, raspy, scream-like quality)
• Different timbral variety used to sound like a megaphone when specific lyrics are emphasized
• Inspiring Lyrics:
• All of the songs have important messages and are also memorable & have catchy lines.
• Persistent recurrences of album themes.
• Song Format
• Unconventional compositional techniques including transitions between connected songs
• Bardic song format (storytelling “chaptered songs”, which deviate from traditional rock song format) with unpredictable meter, tempo, and key changes.

References & Sources

• Jerk Magazine
• The Rampage Online
• Wikipedia
• Sutori: Political Events that Shaped the 2000s
• Allmusic: Greed Day Bio
• Forbes interview with Green Day
• Choice & Self-Determination
• Is Everyone Really Equal?